Heirlooms with Dr. Pamela Manners and Dr. Richard Bernard

March 03, 2026
12:00pm - 1:00pm

Heirlooms uses treasures from an old family chest to tell the forgotten stories of eight generations of American frontier women from Colonial Jamestown, Virginia, to Belmont County, Ohio, to the Oklahoma Dust Bowl of the 1930s. The chapters put aside the stereotypes of Farmer’s Wives and Dance Hall Girls to weave an intergenerational tapestry of domestic life, strife, and hope in this new country.

About the Authors

Heirlooms is the third novel by Dr. Pamela Manners, a retired Professor of Psychology at Troy University (Alabama). Her earlier works are Emmy’s Time (2015) and Five Roads: A Novel (2021). She lives in Alabama with her husband David Smart.

Pam’s childhood friend, Dr. Richard Bernard, is her coauthor. Professor of History and Graduate Dean Emeritus at the University of Central Oklahoma, Dr. Bernard has held several administrative posts, including vice president for academic affairs at Bethany College, WV, 1989-93. His previous works, all in U.S. history, include, The Melting Pot and the Altar: Marital Assimilation in Early Twentieth-Century Wisconsin; Sunbelt Cities: Politics and Growth Since World War II (co-editor and contributor); and Snowbelt Cities: Metropolitan Politics in the Northeast and Midwest since World War II (editor and contributor). He and his wife Terry live in Richard and Pam’s hometown of Edmond, Oklahoma.

The women of Heirlooms are loosely based on Dr. Bernard’s ancestors.

Featured Book

From Jamestown to the Dust Bowl, the women of the Oliver family saved the things that shaped their lives.

Beginning with Fannie Strickland, eight generations of wives, daughters, sisters and mothers add their treasures to the cedar chest that is passed down through the centuries. When a young historian interviews Hazel Oliver, their story is told through the mementos left by this long line of strong and resourceful women.